cull

[kuhl]

verb (used with object)

1. to select and remove from a group, especially to discard or destroy as inferior.

   When I cull the smaller curved saplings, I'm careful to protect and nurture the straighter and larger trees.

2. to discard unwanted parts or remove choice parts from (a group).

   Ranchers must decide whether to buy expensive feed or cull their herds to weather the drought.

   Synonyms: single out, cherry-pick

3. to collect; gather; pluck.

   Quotations are culled from a variety of literature, diaries and letters, local histories, journals, and newspapers.

   Synonyms: amass, garner

noun

1. the act of culling.

2. something culled, especially something picked out and put aside as inferior.

cull

/ kʌl /

verb

1. to choose or gather the best or required examples

2. to take out (an animal, esp an inferior one) from a herd

3. to reduce the size of (a herd or flock) by killing a proportion of its members

4. to gather (flowers, fruit, etc)

5. to cease to employ; get rid of

noun

1. the act or product of culling

2. an inferior animal taken from a herd or group

Other Word Forms

• culler noun
• outcull verb (used with object)
• overcull verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of cull¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English coilen, cuilen, cullen, from Anglo-French, Old French coillir, cuillir, from Latin colligere “to gather”; collect ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cull¹

C15: from Old French coillir to pick, from Latin colligere; see _collect ¹

Example Sentences

A few songs that dwell on similar lyrical themes could have been culled; and it would have been thrilling to hear the star's Machiavellian side explored amidst the radio-friendly pop.

Read more on BBC

With this food source for elephants and other wildlife being depleted, conservationists debated whether to cull the elephants or let nature run its course.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Now, timber interests are aligning with environmentalists in favor of culling the owls.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Hunters will soon be allowed to kill mute swans as part of an effort to cull the “destructive, non-native” species statewide, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Taiwan has culled dozens of pigs after detecting its first cases of African swine fever, with the agriculture ministry saying Thursday no other infections have been detected elsewhere on the island.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• extract 
• glean 
• pluck 
• select 
• sift 
• winnow